Fast and Furious Fall!!

Fall came so quickly this year, I have such a hard time believing Halloween has already come and gone!

But what fun we have been having.

No fall season is complete without a visit to your local farm(s).  Here they do a Festival of Family Farms, where several local farms are open to the public with activities for the whole family.

Beren practicing how to milk a cow.

Beren in the pen with a baby calf.

Enjoying some fresh roasted corn.

Eris in the pen with a baby calf.

Love this photo of my niece, she is so beautiful!

The little ones during the scavenger hunt at the Dairy Farm, they were handing out free ice cream.

The kids in the Giant Corn Maze, seriously it was huge!

Beren and I on the Hayride!

Beren getting in the Halloween spirit at a friend's house.

The kids, their cousins and some friends were watching the "Cats" musical and a few of them decided to get into costume and re-create some of the performances.

(Yep they are ALL wearing tights,  great blackmail material for those boys!)

I have a love of (or slight addiction to) documentaries and my kids are definitely catching the bug!  We were all cuddled up to watch Fed Up, one I had been waiting for for quite a while.

No matter how old you get you are never to old to cuddle with Mom!

Finally time to carve all those pumpkins we picked up from the farm.  It was quite the production with both families getting into the action.

We were literally elbow deep in pumpkin guts!  

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Beren's Jack O Lantern.

He asked me, "Give me an Honest answer not a Beren friendly answer.  Is my pumpkin terrifying?"

Yes!!

Here they are in all their glory on Halloween Night.

Beren was dressed as Death from the "Tale of Three Brothers" in the Harry Potter books and my nieces were some of the cutest pirates I have ever seen.

Eris was Princess Mononoke from a studio Ghilbli film.

Even though we decided she was too old for trick-or-treating she still got into character to hand out the candy!!

As part of Beren's Outdoorsmen requirement for Webelos, he and his den had to set up some tents on their own.  

A job he takes very seriously thanks to his Dad and I am proud to say when asked what the first thing one should do when setting up a tent he replied, "Put down a Tarp."  Good Job Beren.

Our last bit of news for October is the newest addition to the Smith/Peterson clan.

Jacks!!!

So long Summer!

Sorry I missed August, things have been a bit crazy here with the School year starting up.

But I think I am finally feeling caught up.

We finished up August with a trip to the Highland Games held in Mount Vernon.

I was SO excited.  They had highland dancing, highland drumming, highland bands, Clan booths, highland games, and sheep dog trials.  I think there was one food booth that was serving meat pies, and tons of vendors with swords, kilts and Celtic Jewelry.  I was very much in my Element!!

This is the MacLeod booth which is the "Father" Clan of the McClure Clan, where my ancestors are from.

It shows our plaid, coat of arms and motto.  I had a blast, the kids not so much but they did learn a lot.

Tye and I completed our last two hikes of the Trek for Treasure challenge we signed up for.

This beauty is from the top of Sauk Mountain.

This was a 4 mile hike with an elevation gain of 1200 feet.  This was probably the hardest hike for me, mostly because the entire hike is on the face of the mountain completely exposed to the sun and it was a very hot day.  I do not do well in the heat.  But, the views were so worth it, 360 degrees of the Cascades.  I especially love the picture above of the ridge of the Mountain I was standing on Top of!

So relieved to reach the top.

Our last hike was Maple Lake loop.  This hike was Seven miles with an elevation gain of 2000 feet.  My absolute favorite of them all.  We had to drive into the mountains just to start the hike.  The terrain was so varied going from woodland to mountain meadow to mountain lakes and finally mountain top.

It was such an amazing experience to see these things that can only be found on foot and then only if your are willing to work for it!  

Before summer came to an end we met some family for a picnic.  Uncle Brandon, Aunt Rebecca and Julia.  My kids are so in love with there beautiful little cousin.

So am I!!  Love these guys so much!!

So many festivals so little time.  This is Beren eating an Elephant Ear that is almost as big as him (no he was not able to finish it).  This was at the Anacortes Art Festival which my daughter loved so much that we went to it both days!!  Probably one of the biggest Art Festivals I have seen, people from all over the US had booths here.  There was some truly stunning work on display.  They even had an entire street of Active art displays.  

Our last big activity of Summer was Eris attending the Katy Perry concert with her friends.  Her first concert, to say she had a blast would be a gross understatement.  So happy she was able to have this experience with good friends!

I already have some wonderful fall pics for next month's post, we hope you all are enjoying the changing seasons!!

Location, Location, Location!!

Sorry I missed last month but the move and adjusting to the new chaos took sometime!  We have been VERY busy but in a REALLY good way!!!

Our first event after the move was Eris's 15th Birthday.  

Her special request was chocolate Mousse.

It was "D"lish!!

Then we decided to take advantage of this beautiful area we have relocated to and start exploring.  So we headed over to Orcas Island for a camping trip.

We took the ferry to get there.

This is just the view from the ride over there!

The kids spent the whole ride looking for whales, we didn't see any :(

Time to set up camp.

We hit up the local swimming hole before dinner.

I was pretty proud of my campfire skills!!

Someone was getting sleepy.

Roasting marshmallows.

Enjoying the fire.

Rise and shine it's time to head out for a hike.

We had an injured hiker that needed some assistance!!

Mt. Constitution does not disappoint!

It was such a wonderful way to get acquainted with our new home!!

Our next adventure for the summer was a trip to the drive-in!

This brought back sooooo many memories.

Our kids had a BLAST, and will remember this for the rest of their lives!!

Then it was time to celebrate the Fourth of July.

They had such a hard time waiting until dark so we started a little early.

Endless fun, they could do this all night!!

Here in Skagit county every summer there is a group who organizes something called Trek for Treasure.  Once your team is signed up they send you a new hike every two weeks, your job is to complete the hike and find the clue hidden at the end.  After six hikes you need to solve the clues and find the prize.  Here are some photos from the hikes we have completed so far.

Deception pass hike #2, two miles with elevation gain of 680 feet.

Found the clue.

Hike #3 Mt. Baker, we took the kids on this one, five miles round trip with no elevation gain.

Hike #4 and my favorite so far, Sauk Mountain, 4.4 miles 1100 ft elevation gain.

It was a challenging hike for sure but by far the most stunning trek I have ever taken!

On top of the Mountain looking down on creation!!

To cap of our months of summer my little entomologist found a very fine specimen that he classified as a leaf toed beetle.  We just had to share this critter with you all, it is enormous!

Now that is a cute face!!

Even Baylee thought so!

Whew, I think I covered everything.  I have lots more to share from August and can't believe we are getting ready for school already.  We love you all and hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are!